


Working it Out

by stargatesarah, TriStarRebel09



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25674097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatesarah/pseuds/stargatesarah, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriStarRebel09/pseuds/TriStarRebel09
Summary: A series of episode tags for how Sam and Jack eventually end up together. Starts in Season 4 and continues through to Season 8.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Kudos: 15





	1. Entity

“I was shouting” said Sam  
“We heard you” replied Jack  
SG1, General Hammond and Dr Fraiser stood around Sam’s bed in the MALP control room. They’d just brought her back from the edge, successfully integrating Sam’s consciousness back into her body after the entity had reuploaded her to the mainframe in order to save itself.   
She saw Jack out of the corner of her eye, watching her with his hand resting on the edge of the bed. For a few moments, no one said anything. Each of them glad to have their friend back. After a brief silence Dr Fraiser spoke. “Let’s get you back to the infirmary Sam”  
Sam nodded, too tired to say anymore. By the time they’d reached the infirmary she’d fallen asleep again.

Doctor Fraiser set up her equipment to monitor Sam and headed over to her office, she slumped down in her chair, momentarily caught out by her emotions. They’d come so close to losing her and Janet wasn’t afraid to admit that at one point she’d suggested they turn her life support off. That had scared her, Sam was her best friend. Thankfully the Colonel had said to leave it a little bit longer and Daniel had realised Sam was in the mainframe. She laid down on the small cot in the corner of her room and allowed herself to rest.

Colonel O’Neill sat down by is 2IC’s bed, he needed to reassure himself she was OK. Not OK physically, of course he wanted that and Fraiser had reassured him that she’d make a full recovery. But OK with that fact he’d shot her with a zat, twice.   
“Sir, quit blaming yourself” Jack sat up, startled by the sound from Carters bed.  
“Jeez Carter are you trying to get me in here with you? You almost gave me a heart attack”  
“Sorry Sir” she mumbled as she tried to sit upright.  
“Here, let me help you” said Jack as he adjusted the bed, “thirsty?” he asked.  
“Very” she replied. He helped he take a sip of water and then went to find the Doc, “sir?”  
“I’ll be right back Carter, just need to let the Doc know you’re awake, OK?” She nodded and closed her eyes whilst he headed over to Janet’s office.

They both returned shortly and Janet checked Sam’s blood pressure and heart rate whilst asking her how she felt.  
“Exhausted if I’m honest and my whole body aches” replied Sam  
“That’s because you’ve basically been electrocuted more than once” said Janet as Jack visibly grimaced beside her which failed to go unnoticed by Sam.   
“Not your fault Sir, you did the right thing” said Sam  
“I’m going to give you some more pain relief Sam, hopefully the pain will have eased with some more rest” said Janet  
“Mmm ‘kay” said Sam as she began to drift off.  
“You should get some rest as well Colonel, she won’t be awake for a while. You know I’ll call you if anything changes” said Janet  
“Fine” grumbled Jack as he turned on his heels and left the infirmary. Why does doing the right thing really suck he thought as he headed to his quarters.

“Daniel, quit staring at me, I know what you did” said Sam  
“Sorry” mumbled Daniel, taking the seat by her bed.  
“It was only because of you that I did anything though” he added.  
“Are you feeling better?” said Daniel  
“Getting there, pretty dizzy when I stand up but I’m hoping Janet will let me leave later even if I have to have a babysitter”  
“Jack?”  
“Not necessarily” she retorted  
“So Jack?”  
“Go away Daniel!” said Sam  
“Fine, fine! Call me if you need anything” he replied as he backed away with his hands in the air.

Jack entered the infirmary later that day to find Sam sat on her bed in her BDU’s.  
“Going somewhere Carter?”  
“Sir, hopefully home although I think Janet is going to make me stay on base tonight” she replied.  
Janet came over before Jack could respond so he moved to Sam’s side and nodded at the Doctor.  
“Sam, I’m afraid you’re going to have to stay in your quarters tonight, I’m going to be stuck here waiting for SG11 to return”  
“You can stay with me” said Jack, rather more brightly than he was expecting.  
Both Sam and Janet looked at Jack in surprise. “Well that works for me” said Janet.  
“Sir, I couldn’t possibly. I mean, you don’t need to do that” said Sam.  
“I don’t need to but it’s the least I can do after…..you know” he lowered his head and looked away from Sam.  
“If you’re sure it’s not too much hassle Sir?”  
“Carter, it’s fine. What are we working with Doc?”  
“She needs to stay off her feet and rest Colonel, she’s still having dizzy spells” said Janet.  
“I’m right here guys!” said Sam, slightly annoyed at the way the Colonel and Doctor were chatting as if she wasn’t able to participate.  
“Ack Carter, just getting the good Doctor here to let me know what to expect that’s all. You ready to go?” he asked her.

Sam begrudgingly got into the wheelchair that Janet had miraculously brought in at the last moment and she found herself heading to the surface with Jack. He signed them both out and wheeled her over to his truck, beckoning the SF at the gate to follow so he could return the wheelchair.  
“All set?” asked Jack  
“Yep, let’s get out of here” replied Sam.

The journey back to Jack’s house didn’t take long although Sam didn’t manage to stay awake for the entire journey.   
“We’re here” he said as he gently nudged her arm. She stirred and turned to look at him, clearly a little confused as to where they were.   
“You need a hand climbing out?” asked Jack.  
“I think I can manage” she replied as she slowly climbed out of his truck.  
She began to sway as she walked slowly to his front door, Jack followed her closely behind ready to catch her if needed.

Once they were inside he led her to his guestroom and gave her a moment to get settled. He knocked lightly on the bedroom door, needing to see her, to get a response for his own piece of mind. When she didn’t answer he knocked again, a little harder this time. Deciding to risk what he might see on the other side.  
“Carter! Are you OK? I’m coming in”. He opened the door and saw her sitting in the corner of the room on the floor, rocking slowly with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. 

“Sam, talk to me!”. He rushed to her side and pulled her into his arms, he could feel her whole body shaking as she sobbed.  
“Hey, it’s OK, tell me what’s wrong Sam. Do I need to call Janet?”. She continued to shake, not answering him.  
“Sam you’re making me panic, you need to calm and down and talk to me”

She didn’t react so he pulled his cell from his trouser pocket and dialled Fraiser’s private number.  
“Doc, it’s me, can you get over to mine ASAP? Carter’s in shock or something. I can’t get her to calm down” He snapped the cell shut and wrapped his arms as tightly as he could around her. It didn’t take long for Janet to arrive and she entered the guest room after the Colonel called her through.  
“Sam, it’s me Janet, I need you to calm down and look at me. How long has she been like this Colonel?”  
“I found her like this just before I called you but it can’t have been more than 10 minutes or so before that. What do you need me to do?”  
“Help me get her on the bed, she must be exhausted by now. I’d rather not sedate her if I can avoid it” replied Janet.

They both manoeuvred Sam onto the bed and as Jack went to move away Sam instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm, holding it tightly.  
“Stay” she whispered. She was still crying but she was beginning to calm down.  
“Sam, are you OK?” asked Janet. “Does anything hurt?”   
“Headache” replied Sam, still holding on tightly to the Colonel.  
“I’ll go and get you something for it” said Janet as she got up and left the room. The Colonel sat quietly next to Sam, unsure as to what to say or do. Just when he thought he’d gained the courage to speak up, Janet returned with some painkillers and a glass of water.

Sam took the painkillers from Janet and after taking a sip of water to swallow them she allowed Janet to get her comfortable in bed, she’d released her grip on the Colonel and it was evident to him and the Doctor that her exhaustion had taken over. They both left the room and Janet followed him to the living room. Jack sighed and ran his hands through his hair.  
“Is she going to be OK Doc?”  
“With time, yes. Right now she just needs to know she has the support of her friends” replied the Doctor. “So what the hell just happened in there?”  
“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure but knowing Sam I’m guessing that was the moment she realised what happened and that she can’t deal with it by just bottling it up”  
“So what should I do?” asked Jack as he sunk into the couch. “Be there Sir, like you always are” replied Janet


	2. Desperate Measures

The list of reasons for which Jack would ask for Harry Maybourne for help was short. Extremely short. Quite possibly there were only two; getting General Hammond reinstated, and saving Carter. And it looked like he would soon be using all of them.

"Daniel," he said walking into the archaeologist's lab, "I need to get a hold of Maybourne."

"What?" said Daniel looking up from his computer.

"Maybourne" Jack repeated irritation creeping in, "I need to talk to him. There's a chance he may know what happened to Carter."

"Harry Maybourne? The convicted traitor Maybourne who is on the run, probably not in the country, but will be arrested and executed if he comes back here Maybourne?"  
"Daniel!" Jack snapped.

"Okay, okay, just checking," said Daniel, "um, how do I do that exactly?"

Jack sighed and told Daniel about the message boards that the NID operatives used to communicate with each other. As Daniel searched for a board Jack tried to resist looking at the clock on the bottom on his screen. Every second that ticked by was another second longer that she had been gone. Every minute, every hour was another that she had been missing and more time that she could be in danger, or hurt or… he tried not to let himself finish that sentence. He tried not to let himself count the seconds and be consumed by utter desperation.

The most infuriating thing was that they had nothing to go on. Absolutely nothing. There had been no clues, no signs or witnesses. If there was one thing Jack O'Neill was not good at it was inaction and this part was killing him. He needed to be out there turning over every stone and kicking in every door till he found her.

"Done," Daniel said, interrupting his thoughts. "Now what?"

"Now we wait," said Jack darkly.

***

Teal'c had suggested boxing and while Jack wasn't really in the mood, he thought maybe it would help clear his mind so he agreed. He slid his gloves on, tightening them at the wrist and rolled his neck while thinking maybe it hadn't been the best idea to contact Maybourne. He had shown up alright, but hadn't exactly been a wealth of information. He said he didn't know where Carter was or who had taken her. All he had really done was point the finger at Frank Simmons. They'd hadn't had any luck getting hold of Simmons on the phone, so Jack was planning on going to D.C. tomorrow to confront him in person. He raised his hands and faced Teal'c. Teal'c threw the first jab and Jack barely blocked it in time.

What was really bothering him was Maybourne's parting words which had echoed in his head ever since. "You know how this game is played and the kind of people who play it. You gotta prepare yourself for the possibility that she may not be coming back." He had wanted nothing more in that moment than to beat the crap out of Maybourne for giving voice to his fears. It made the fact that he had no leads even more maddening.

Teal'c was circling him now looking for an opening. His unforgiving right hook caught Jack in the head and for a second he saw stars. He threw a wild punch that missed and caught him off balance sending him spinning off the mat and onto the floor.

"Are you alright O'Neill?" He heard Teal'c ask concernedly behind him. Jack slammed a fist into the ground and even through the glove he felt the force jar his fingers. He threw it off and shook his hand.

"Dammit Teal'c, no I'm not alright!" he said standing up. He rubbed his face with his free hand and took a ragged breath. "Sorry T, it's not your fault."

"You are worried about Major Carter," Teal'c stated simply, unruffled as always.

"Yeah," Jack answered simply. When Teal'c didn't say anything, Jack continued on. "I just keep thinking she's counting on us to come find her and we're letting her down. I just wish…" he trailed off.

Teal'c was silent for a long moment. "I believe that Major Carter knows how you feel about her," he said in his usual manner of understanding the unsaid.

Jack looked up sharply. He and Teal'c had never discussed what had been communicated between him and Carter over Anise's Zatarc detecting device. But Teal'c was there though, he knew. Probably even more than Jack knew for crying out loud. His feelings were confusing at best. "I just have to find her," he said heavily.

Teal'c laid a gloved hand on Jack's shoulder. "We will find her O'Neill," he said, his confidence giving Jack back a sliver of hope.

***

Sam was starting to feel helpless, a feeling which she did not enjoy in the least. Her escape had frustratingly failed and she was right back where she started, handcuffed to the hospital bed. She didn't harbor any hope that they were just going to let her walk out of here. Not when they went to all the effort to kidnap her in the first place as well as the fact that Adrian Conrad seemed so desperate. So that left being rescued. She was sure that the rest of her team was looking for her, but she was also sure they probably didn't have any idea where to start looking for her either. And with the drugs she'd been given which left her drifting in and out of consciousness it was hard to know how long it had been since they grabbed her.

All of this for something Sam had no control over. Not that she had a choice, but hosting Jolinar had turned into nothing but trouble for her and the rest of SG-1. Not completely true, she reminded herself. If she hadn't carried Jolinar she wouldn't have known where to find the Tok'ra and they wouldn't have been able to save her dad. Dad...she thought plaintively. It had been a while since she'd seen him and she wished she could have said goodbye to him. And to Teal'c Daniel and the Colonel.

She shifted on the bed to try and get comfortable and let her thoughts drift. It was easier to always think of him that way, to always call him by his title, even when they were off duty. It hadn't escaped her notice that he never called her Sam anymore. It was a small reminder for both of them of how things had to be. That no matter how she felt about him, it didn't change anything.

***

Finally, finally, Jack had something. Unsurprisingly, Mayburne had been less than entirely truthful. Surprisingly however, he had come through with a lead and they had a possible location where Carter might be, a hospital outside Seattle. He, Daniel and Teal'c were on their way there now with a full SWAT team. The ride seemed to be taking forever. Hurry! He urged the van with his mind. He just prayed that they weren't too late.

Turns out he got there just in the nick of time. Sam had thought it was for sure over for her, and there he was bursting through the door and yelling at the doctors. She had never been so glad to hear his voice. Her body was buzzing with the adrenaline of coming so close to dying and realizing that she would never get the chance to tell him how she felt. In retrospect it may have been good she was handcuffed to the bed or she may have done something that she would have regretted later. She wasn't sure what she had expected from him beyond his asking if she was alright, but he was all business. That was fine, she could be all business too. They still had to get out, still had a job to do and a Goa'uld to find. Later there would be time to talk.

***

"Sam!" She heard Daniel's voice and looked up to see him pushing through a group of SWAT and medical personnel who had descended on the building.

"Whoops!" he said as he almost knocked a harried looking EMT over. Once he finally reached her he wrapped her up in a huge hug. "It's so good to see you Sam. I'm so glad you're okay," he said, still holding her tight.

Sam squeezed him back. "It's good to see you too." Teal'c was right behind Daniel carving a much wider path through the crowd.

"I am also pleased to see that you are well Major Carter," Teal'c said.

"Thanks Teal'c," Sam said as Daniel finally let her go. "Did you guys see Colonel O'Neill?"

Sam had felt her heart stop when she found the Colonel lying face down on the floor of the boiler room. After being so relieved to see him just minutes earlier she was terrified that she was going to lose him. When she knelt down next to him and realized that his vest had stopped one bullet and the other had missed anything vital she was floored with relief. He was even coherent enough to make a joke.

"Yeah," Daniel was saying, dragging her away from the memory, "they brought him up just a few minutes ago. They said he's going to be just fine, but they're going to airlift him back to the SGC, let Janet deal with him. Man was he pissed though, going off about Maybourne shooting him. Kinda glad we're on a different plane back to Colorado."

"I still can't believe that he brought Maybourne here with him in the first place," Sam said.

"Well, Jack went to him for help finding you," Daniel said.

"He did what?" Sam asked incredulously.

"I believe that Colonel O'Neill would have done anything in an effort to find you, Major Carter," Teal'c said stoically.

"Well," Daniel said into the slightly awkward silence that followed Teal'c pronouncement, "shall we go home?" He threw his arm around Sam's shoulder and together the three of them headed out of the hospital.

***

Sam couldn't move. She was lying on her back in a dark room lit only by a one blinding light over her eyes. She tried to raise her hand to block out the light but she was completely immobilized. A figure stepped into her field of vision, masked and wearing gloves. He held some sort of drill which he placed in the middle of her forehead.

"Since you won't tell us how it left you," the man said in a cold voice, "we shall have to dig it out of you."

"No!" Sam yelled trying to shake him off, to get away, to do anything but it was no use. He activated the drill and it began a high pitched whirring. It was boring through her skin, her skull, the pain burning through her mind. She screamed and screamed…

Sam sat bolt upright in bed heart hammering so hard it felt as though it would escape her chest. The clock on her nightstand said 1:37 am. She was covered in a cold sweat and she started to panic again when she couldn't move her legs only to realize they were twisted up in her sheet. She kicked her feet in an effort to free them and tried to force herself to take deep breaths to calm down her racing pulse.

It had been a week since the rest of her team had rescued her, and this was the fifth night she had woken up from nightmares. She couldn't figure out what was wrong. This wasn't her first brush with death. Hell, she couldn't even count how many close calls she'd had since joining SG-1. Regardless, she had to get this under control. She was set to go back on off-world missions in three days and she needed to be able to focus. She rubbed her face, her eyes were burning and her throat was raw, she hadn't been able to get more than a couple hours of sleep all week. Even when she was awake she was jittery and nervous. Every sound made her jumpy and she kept rechecking that her doors were locked. She hated feeling this way, couldn't stand the constant dread. The thought of anyone finding out how helpless she felt was almost worse than the nightmares, but she had to do something.

Sam reached for the phone next to her bed thinking she'd call Janet. She was halfway through dialing her number when she abruptly set the phone back down. Best friend or not, Janet was still the Chief Medical Officer at the SGC and would consider it her duty to pull her from active duty and stick her in front of a shrink if she thought Sam was really losing it. She could call Daniel or Teal'c. Either one of them would listen and empathize. But they weren't who she really wanted to talk to.

She dialed the number four times, each time hanging up before she finished it. She almost gave up, almost decided this was crazy and she should just try and get some sleep. Shaking her head she took a deep breath, picked up the phone and finished dialing.

"Hello?"

"Hi Sir, it's me," she said.


	3. Metamorphisis

Sam stepped through the Stargate flanked by the Colonel and Teal’c, Jonas has gone through first as per the Colonels orders. Since her ordeal at the hands of Nirrti Sam hadn’t felt quite right despite the reassurance that she was 100% back to how she was when she arrived. Obviously she’d told the others she felt fine but she suspected the Colonel wasn’t quite buying it.

Jack walked beside his Major as they went through the event horizon together. He’d been keeping a close eye on her since she’d been back in the gene mixing machine or whatever they called it, he hadn’t really been paying attention. He could tell despite what she said that she clearly wasn’t feeling well, she was quiet on the walk back to the gate and seemed a little unsteady on her feet.   
“You OK Carter?” he asked as they waited for Jonas to finish dialling Earth.  
“Fine Sir, just a little tired that’s all” she replied.  
“Well let’s get the good Doctor to check you over just in case”. She looked at him and forced a smile as she nodded.

Sam walked down the ramp aware of how close the Colonel and Teal’c were to her side, she knew neither of them believed that she was as well as she claimed. She couldn’t help but feel safe knowing they were there for her.

“Welcome back SG1” boomed Hammonds voice from the bottom of the ramp. “Care to tell me what happened out there Colonel?”  
“I’d rather get my team checked out in the infirmary first General”. Before the General could reply, Sam interrupted them both.  
“Nirrti was experimenting on the planets population Sir, it looked like she was continuing her genetic manipulation experiments”   
“Did you see her?” asked the General  
“We did Sir, but Carter and Jonas were unwilling volunteers in those experiments and I’d really like to get them down to the infirmary” replied Jack.  
“Very well Colonel, we’ll debrief at 0800 tomorrow”

Sam walked carefully down the ramp and towards the blast doors, desperately trying to correct her rapidly narrowing vision. She stopped for a moment to rub her temples and the Colonel was immediately at her side.  
“Carter?”  
“Just a bit tired Sir” she replied without the slightest bit of conviction in her voice.  
“Do I need to call Fraiser and get a gurney down here?” he asked with concern. Sam shook her head and immediately regretted it, she stuck a hand out to brace herself against the wall as she felt her vision close in. The last thing she noticed before passing out completely was the sound of her shocked CO’s voice and strong arms scooping her up.

The first Janet knew of SG1’s return was when they came crashing into her infirmary with the Colonel shouting for her, Teal’c carrying an unconscious Sam and Jonas hurrying behind. The sight of Sam made her heart drop, this clearly wasn’t going to be a straightforward post mission check-up. As she directed Teal’c to put Sam on a bed she began to stir.  
“I’m fine Teal’c put me down will you!”  
“On the contrary Major Carter, you are not fine. Had I not carried you then you’d still be on the floor in the gate room” replied Teal’c without a hint of irony in his voice.  
“Well I’m awake now” she replied tersely.  
“Does someone care to fill me in?” asked Janet as she kept one eye on Sam, who despite her protestations did not look well at all.  
“We ran into that wonderful Nirrti again” replied the Colonel sarcastically.  
“She put Carter, Jonas and the Russian leader in her machine, the same thing that happened to the native the Russians brought back happened to him. Carter was put back in and fixed and Jonas didn’t seem to suffer any side effects. He looked at Jonas who nodded in response.  
“Well I need to examine Major Carter so you three can get your post mission checks completed over there” ordered Dr Fraiser. Teal’c and Jonas headed over to the other Doctor but the Colonel lingered by his 2IC’s bedside, clearly not happy about leaving her just yet.  
“Sir, I’m fine, I was just a little dizzy that’s all. I’m sure I’ll be out of here in no time” said Sam as she did her best to look better than she was feeling. The Colonel gave a grunt of acknowledgement, clearly not buying her response. He threw a look at the Doctor who nodded subtly in understanding before following the others.

“Right Sam” said Janet as she drew the curtains around her bed.  
“Are you going to tell me how you really feel or do I need to find out for myself?” she asked.  
Sam let out a sigh as she debated her answer, eventually she decided that Janet would find out the truth regardless so she might as well be honest.  
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I can’t work out what the machine did to me in the first place” she replied sadly.  
“Well why don’t you start with how you feel?” asked Janet gently as she took her pulse.  
“Awful” said Sam as she slumped back in the bed.

Colonel O’Neill paced around the briefing table, he was supposed to be heading home. Both Teal’c and Jonas had already been cleared from their post mission checks and had retired to their quarters but the Colonel was impatient to hear about Carter and after being repeatedly told by Doctor Fraiser to leave her alone to see to Sam she’d had the General escort him out.   
“Colonel, why don’t you at least get some sleep in your quarters?” suggested the General as he came out of his office.  
“I’m not leaving till I know what’s going on with Carter” replied Jack rather more abruptly than he intended. Ignoring the blatant lack of a formal response, the General sat down at the table and motioned for Jack to join him.  
“Carter is like a daughter to me, I’ve known her since she was a little girl” said Hammond. Jack stared at him, momentarily caught off guard by Hammonds comment.  
“You should also know that I only want the best for her and I don’t want to see her make a mistake that might affect her future”  
“Sir…..I’m not quite sure I understand” said Jack  
“Just be careful son, there are people out there that want to see this program fail and I’d hate to give them a reason to investigate certain things around here”  
Jack thought carefully about his response, he was pretty sure he knew what the General was alluding too and he was also pretty sure he knew his feelings for his 2IC ran a little deeper than they should considering their positions.  
“Major Carter is held in high regard by myself, my team and everyone on this base Sir and I would never intentionally seek to change that” replied Jack. Hammond nodded as he got up to leave, before he headed back to his office he turned to speak again.  
“May I suggest a more subtle approach in the infirmary if you wish to see Major Carter?”  
Jack looked up in surprise before realising what the General was saying. “Good idea Sir” he replied as he swiftly left the room.

Walking back into the infirmary Jack decided to find Janet rather than sneak over to Sam’s bed, he didn’t need to look far as he found her in her office completing some paperwork. He knocked lightly on her door as he walked in.  
“I’m not here to cause a fuss” he said as he held his hands up in surrender.  
“Good” replied the Doctor “because otherwise I’d have to dig out the really big needles!”  
Sensing he had been forgiven he took a seat in front of her desk and waited for her to finish her paperwork before speaking again.  
“So how is she Doc?”  
“Sleeping at the moment, she wasn’t able to tell me a lot before she passed out. I’m guessing whatever’s wrong is her body trying to cope with what Nirrti did to her in that machine.  
“So she’ll be OK?” he asked, concern etched on his face.  
“She should make a full recovery Colonel”  
“So…..”  
“Yes but if she isn’t awake then I swear to god I’ll have you banned if you wake her!”   
“Yes Ma’am” replied Jack with a smirk and a lazy salute as he headed over to Carter’s bed.

Jack peered round the curtain of Sam’s bed and stood for a minute taking in her pale complexion. She looked exhausted but seemed to be resting peacefully. He carefully pulled up a chair and sat down as quietly as he could.  
“Sir”  
Startled by the noise coming from the bed he nearly fell off his chair in shock.  
“Jesus Carter, I thought you were asleep! For the love of god, if the Doc asks I didn’t wake you OK?!”  
“I was just dozing” she replied “but your secrets safe with me Sir”  
“How are you feeling” he asked, leaning slightly closer to her bed.  
“Like I went a few rounds with Teal’c” she replied with a small grin on her face.  
“That bad huh?”  
“I’ve had worse Sir. Shouldn’t you be at home?” she asked, knowing fore well why he was still here.  
“Can’t a CO check on his 2IC?” he replied, innocently.  
“Yes, but he can do that at a more reasonable hour, rather than the middle of the night”  
They both sat in silence for a few minutes, neither sure what to say next. Finally Jack broke the silence as he fiddled awkwardly with the sheets on Sam’s bed.  
“I was worried I might lose you back there” he said, not able to make eye contact.  
“I’m still here Sir, you can’t get rid of me that easily” she joked, trying to lighten the mood. He didn’t reply immediately, instead he stood up and pushed the chair back from the bed.  
“Get some rest Carter, that’s an order


	4. Threads

When Pete said that he had a surprise for her, Sam vaguely thought that maybe he was taking her to her favorite ice cream place. A new house was absolutely the last thing she expected. As he showed her around she couldn't believe how close it was to the one she told him about, her dream house. The huge windows and the big backyard. She should have been excited, elated even but the more he showed her, the more the panic started to grow.

When he proudly led her into the master bedroom she couldn't take it anymore and quickly left the room and ran back outside.

"Sam? Sam?" he called after her. He found her sitting on the bench in the front of the house. "Sam what's wrong?" he asked, concernedly sitting down next to her. "Don't you like it?"

She forced herself to look at him and smile, "no, I love it. It's beautiful, just overwhelmed that you did this for me."

He took her hand and squeezed it, "I know it's a big step, but we get married in a month and I'm just so ready to start our lives together!" He threw his arm around her shoulders and then went on about a closing schedule and moving dates and Sam nodded along, but she didn't hear a word that he said.

She hadn't lied, the house was beautiful and exactly what she always wanted. But in the very back of her mind, if she was completely honest, she'd always pictured someone else in that house. Of course she liked Pete, she liked him a lot. He was sweet and he made her laugh. But the trepidation had been building for a while now, and the closer they got to their wedding date, the more she felt as though this was wrong.

Was she really even considering giving up something so safe for the remote possibility that maybe someday something might happen with someone else? Something that was still against regulations and could cost her the job she loved? She was starting to realize that she had been kidding herself if she thought she had left her feelings behind and the perfect house with the wrong person didn't change any of that.

***

Jack O'Neill would have been lying if he said that he wasn't sorry to see Kerry Johnson walk away. She was charming, smart and capable. Plus, It was easy with her, uncomplicated. She had been right, they were good together. He and Carter had been dancing a perplexing, difficult dance for years. Hell, they had never actually even been together. All they really had was a kiss that she didn't even remember.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, anger stabbed through him over the fact that Kerry had ended it over this. He thought that he and Carter had both moved on, she'd been with Pete for over a year and they were engaged after all for crying out loud! But as quickly as the fury has come on it melted away again. This wasn't Kerry's fault, and he knew that he really was just angry at himself and the rules that kept him from the one person he unquestionably wanted.

How could he have ever thought that he had moved on when every flash of the diamond on her finger felt like a dagger had been flung into his chest? Each time she mentioned his name he wanted nothing more than to shoot the bastard. But that bastard made her smile so he shoved down every feeling he ever had. Pushed away the memories of holding her while she recovered from the alien entity, desperately searching for her after she had been taken by Conrad, and staring at her through that damn forcefield, knowing he couldn't bear to leave her. As long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

***

Jack gently knocked on the open door of Sam's lab. "Carter?" he said sticking his head in. She was standing there with her back to him and at the sound of his voice she quickly rubbed her face and spun around.

"Sir?" she asked. Her eyes were red and there was a small smudge of mascara on her cheek. Jack so very rarely saw her cry and he hurried over to her.

"Carter, you okay?"

She nodded her head. "Sorry sir, I'm fine."

"What's going on?" he asked.

She sighed, "I was just trying to convince the Tok'ra that we should be able to bury my dad here on Earth. They're not very amenable to that idea. Not a conversation I ever thought that I would have."

"I'll talk to them," he said, "I'm sure that I can get them to come around. If there's one thing I can be, it's very persuasive."

She gave him a small smile and looked down. He put one hand on her arm and noticed something. He reached for her left hand. "No ring?" he asked quickly.

She took a deep breath. "No. Sir I…" the phone rang, interrupting her. Jack held her hand for a long moment before letting go so she could answer it.

"Carter," she said. She listened for a few seconds then said, "okay, we'll be right there." She hung up the phone then turned back to Jack, "we need to get down to the control room, Teal'c and Bra'tac are back and it doesn't sound good.

"Right" he said, following her out of the room.

***

Jack, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c sat around the briefing table as they'd done countless times before, but this time felt different. Anubis had disappeared, the replicators had been destroyed, the Jaffa were free and Daniel was back. There was a sense of optimism that hadn't been present in that room since the program began.

"So," Jack was saying, "in honor of our incredible replicator and Goa'uld ass kicking, I think we deserve a little vacation. Get out of the SGC, rest and relax a bit, do some fishing. What do you say? Friday? My cabin?"

Sam looked down and shuffled her notes and Daniel found something very interesting on the ceiling to stare at.

"I take it by your silence that you're overwhelmed with excitement," said Jack dryly.

"I am not fond of fishing O'Neill," said Teal'c.

Daniel looked at Sam and she tried to hide a smile. "Glad he said it," he muttered.

"Come on guys," said Jack reprovingly. "It'll be great! We've been a team for eight years and we've never been on a trip together!" The other three exchanged a glance.

"Sir," said Sam, "we've been on hundreds of trips through the gate together."

"I meant on Earth," said Jack.

"We went to Russia," said Daniel. "And we road tripped across the country together!" Jack shot him a glare. "But I'm sure Minnesota is lovely this time of year," Daniel hurriedly continued on.

"Yes," Jack said pointedly, "it is. It'll be fun! I promise. Walter can take care of things around here for a few days, right Walter?" he yelled out. They heard a faint "Yes Sir" drift up the spiral stairs from the control room.

"There," said Jack, picking up his files and standing up, "all taken care of. So I will see you three on Friday, and that," he said looking each of them in turn, "is an order".

***

Friday arrived and Sam was trying to concentrate on reading through a report as she took the elevator down to her lab. Really though she was distracted by trying to think of an excuse for not going to the General's cabin. She was so glad to have Daniel back alive and well, and she loved it when they all hung out as a team, but she just wasn't in the mood this time. Losing her Dad, breaking off an engagement and finding out that the General was dating a CIA agent had all put a damper on the occasion.

The elevator doors banged open and she walked out still staring at the report, right into Kerry Johnson. The red haired agent stumbled backwards in her heels.

"Oh god," said Sam, "I'm so sorry Ms. Johnson. I completely wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?"

"Just fine Colonel Carter," she said, recovering her balance. "No worries." The two women stared at each other for a moment. "I was so sorry to hear about your father," Kerry finally said, "I read his file, he really was an incredible man."

"Oh, um thank you," Sam replied. Silence fell again. "I wanted to tell you again I'm sorry for just showing up at General O'Neill's house the other day," she looked around to make sure no one was listening. "If I had known you two were together, I never would have..." she trailed off. "Anyways, don't worry I won't tell anyone. You guys seem really great together. Guess that's why he's been so happy lately." Sam tried her very hardest to keep any bitterness out of her voice.

"Jack didn't tell you?" Kerry asked, confused.

"Tell me what?"

"I swear that man," Kerry looked up and shook her head, "Jack and I called things off."

"Oh," Sam said shocked, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kerry said, taking a deep breath. "Look, I know this isn't really my place to say anything. But you and Jack are both Air Force officers to the core, and there's a lot of red tape in your way so I sort of understand what's been holding you back. Here's your chance though, just please don't give it up without even trying." She started to back away. "I'll see you around Colonel Carter," she said, giving a small wave leaving a thoroughly stunned Sam to watch her walk away.

After Kerry disappeared down the corridor Sam started walking toward her lab, hesitated and turned back to the elevator. She hit the button for level 27 and held her breath as the doors closed again.

Sam walked down the hall to the General's office wiping her hands on her pants as she went. Come on, she told herself, you blew up a sun, you can do this. She took a deep breath, reached up and knocked on the closed door.

"It's open," said the voice inside.

"Hi Sir," she said, opening up the door and looking inside, "do you have a minute?"

"Carter," General O'Neill said briefly glancing up from the forms he was signing. "Shouldn't you be packing? Today's the day."

"Actually Sir, I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Carter," he interrupted, still not looking up, "I hope you're not trying to get out of this trip, because you are going, end of story. Whatever science project… thing you have going can wait till we get back."

"Sir, you and Agent Johnson broke things off." It wasn't a question.

He looked up at her at that, steadily. "Yea. You ended things with the cop." Also not a question, but they still hadn't talked about it since that day in her lab.

"Yes."

"Why?" He asked.

"You know why Sir."

"Nothing's changed Carter," he said regretfully, standing to face her and spreading his hands to indicate the office around him.

"I know that Sir. I know the rules. I've said them over and over to myself for the last five years to justify putting my feelings aside. I tried to go on with my life, but if I would have gone through with things it would have been a huge mistake. And now I would never forgive myself if I let regulations stand in my way another time. Of something, someone, I care so much about. So," she said hesitantly, "if you feel the same?"

"I do," he said quickly.

She couldn't help breaking into a huge smile and the tension of the last few days drained away, "You do?"

"You really have to ask?" He said dryly. "How about that though. Colonel Carter wants to break the rules. Never thought I would see the day. Guess it's time for me to retire again."

"Actually Sir, I've been thinking about that. Area 51 contacted me a few weeks ago about heading up their research and development program. I told them no at the time, but they haven't filled the position yet and maybe now…?" she trailed off.

"No way Carter, SG-1 needs you."

"Look Sir, as much as I love saving the world, multiple times at that, now that things have finally calmed down, it might be a nice break from the constant peril. And then you and I could." She stopped and shrugged.

He stared at her for a long moment. "We can talk about it this weekend," he finally said. "Speaking of which." He looked at his watch. "Walter!" he yelled out. The omnipresent Sergeant appeared out of nowhere at the doorway.

"Yes Sir?" he said.

"What do I have on my schedule for the rest of the day?" the General asked.

"You are supposed to debrief SG 8 at 0300 and then you have a call with the Secretary of…"

"Excellent" said the General interrupting and clapping his hands together. "Cancel all that Walter and reschedule it for next week."

"But Sir…"

"Ah!" he said holding up a finger, "take care of it Walter."

"Yes Sir," Walter said before disappearing again.

"Now," said Jack, "you are packed, right Carter?"

"Yes Sir," she said. "My bag's in my quarters."

"Great," he said sitting down again. "Go grab that and meet me back up here in 15 minutes."

"Um, okay," she said mystified. She headed back down the hall, up the elevator to her room. The future was still very much uncertain, but she couldn't believe how elated she felt having finally expressed her feelings and now knowing they were reciprocated.

15 minutes later she was back outside the General's office. She pushed the door open, "Okay Sir, I'm…" before she could finish she was caught in a beam of light and the office dissolved around her and was replaced with a sterile hallway and bulkheads. "What the?" she said. But there was another beam of light and once again her field of vision disappeared and suddenly she was surrounded by trees in front of a small cabin. She spun around and the General was standing beside her holding a small bag of his own.

"Sir," she said realizing what had happened, "did you have the Prometheus beam us out of the SGC and back down here."

"Um, yep. Thought we'd beat Daniel and Teal'c up here," he replied walking up to the cabin. "Perks of being a General!" he called over his shoulder.

"Someday," Sam muttered with a wry smile as she followed up after him.

Jack held the door open for her as she walked into the cabin and took in the beamed ceiling and stone fireplace.

"It's quaint Sir," she said looking around.

"It's a fishing cabin, Carter," he replied. "And lose the 'Sir', at least for the weekend."

"Sorry S.." she caught herself and he gave her a look, "I'll try... Jack," she said trying out the unfamiliar word.

He grinned, "nice to hear you say that when you aren't possessed by a Goa'uld or severely concussed."

"Or freezing to death in Antarctica?" she added.

"What?" he asked

"Never mind," she said, quickly turning away to slowly examine the rest of the cabin. She ran her hand over the back of the couch and glanced over the titles of the books in the case. She could feel Jack's eyes following her around the room. When she finally ran out of things to look at she turned towards the General. "So?" She asked.

"So," he responded.

She took a deep breath, "So how do we do this? It's not like a normal first date. I know you and you know me, we've worked together for years, and not just worked together..." She was cut off as Jack crossed the room in three quick steps, took her face in his hands and captured her mouth in a gravity defying kiss that took her breath away. It was better than she ever had imagined, and if she was completely honest she had imagined this moment more than a few times.

It might have been minutes, or hours, but at some point he gently released her and murmured in her ear, "don't overthink it Samantha."

He was so close and she was out of breath and couldn't think straight. In response she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. There was an urgency, a desperation that had built up in both of them over the last eight years. Jack freed his arms from under hers and wrapped one hand around the back of her head, tangling up in her hair. The other arm snaked around her lower back and pulled her hips tight into his. He was backing up now pulling her with him towards the bedroom, their lips still locked together, hungry for each other.

They had made it to the doorframe when a loud "ahem!" caused them to break apart, both gasping. Daniel and Teal'c were standing there. Daniel looked smug and Teal'c slightly amused. Neither one seemingly remotely abashed.

"So, is this actually finally happening?" Daniel asked, waving a finger between the two of them. "I mean common, took you long enough! Actually wait," he went on, "how do we know this is actually you?" What if you are an alternate dimension Jack and Sam? I mean, they've all gotten together apparently, you two are the only holdouts." He turned to Teal'c, "maybe we're the ones in the wrong dimension."

"I do not believe so Daniel Jackson," he responded.

"It's us Daniel," Sam said, sounding amused.

"Damn," said Daniel.

Teal'c held out his hand palm up and Daniel sighed, reluctantly pulling out his wallet, extracting a $20 and slapping it in Teal'c hand who inclined his head in thanks

"Did you two bet on us getting together?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah," Daniel said nodding.

Jack glared at them, then yanked Sam through the door frame with him and kicked the door shut behind him.

"Don't mind us!" They heard Daniel yell from the other room.

"Go away Daniel!" Jack yelled back as he and Sam tumbled onto the bed together.

The next day Sam and Jack sat together on the end of the dock fishing. The weather was perfect and Sam couldn't remember ever being this happy. Her and Jack had emerged from the bedroom that morning and aside from a wink from Daniel and a raised eyebrow from Teal'c, they both acted like nothing had happened. She couldn't help but grin as she tossed her line in the water.

"This is great," she said, "we should have done this years ago." She didn't entirely mean the fishing.

"Yes, well let's not dwell," Jack said dryly. He took one hand off of his pole and held it out to her. She took it and enjoyed the feeling of his warm fingers encircling hers. She still couldn't believe this was real, but here they were. They had been to so many places over the years, explored the galaxy together. Now she was ready to explore their future, together.


End file.
